Questions & Answers

By nsadler / May 26, 2015.

Where can I buy my firewood and other Certainly Wood products?

Use the ‘postcode search’ facility to find out where your nearest retailer is located. You can either buy small quantities from these retailers or you can order bulk deliveries which will be delivered direct to your home . If you live within the Herefordshire area you can order bulk bag deliveries direct from Certainly Wood. When you put in your postcode it will automatically tell you whether you are within our local delivery area which is within a 40 mile radius from our office.

Why kiln dried and how is this done?

The reason for kiln drying is to improve the overall quality of the wood providing you with the best possible quality every time. The moisture content will be an average of 20% which is what stove manufacturers recommend. This provides a clean burn with maximum heat output and therefore you are likely to use less wood. Our kilns are fired on our own wood waste and we also use solar panels to produce electricity, so very eco-friendly.

How long should wood be ‘seasoned’ for? What is seasoned firewood?

Length of seasoning is almost irrelevant, so be careful when being told how long wood has been ‘seasoned’ for. This is simply because if trees have been cut down and left in the forest without being split into logs, they will hardly dry. There is a reason why trees have bark – to stop the moisture escaping. To season firewood logs properly and to dry firewood quickly, wood needs to be cut and split into small logs to increase the surface area for drying and stored under cover with good air flow. Also different species will dry at different speeds. For example softwoods such as Pine and Spruce will provide dry firewood quickly and so will Ash which is a quick drying hardwood. Faster drying woods bought in the Spring will therefore provide dry firewood in winter. Denser woods such as oak, beech and apple will take much longer to dry.

When is the best season to buy firewood in the UK?

If you are buying kiln dried wood which is ready for immediate burning, this can be bought at any time of the year, but it is best to keep stocked up to avoid running out. When buying ‘seasoned’ wood this will definitely need to be left for a further period of time to dry and this will avoid problems in your stove and flue. If you have space to store enough wood, you can certainly dry firewood at home. Be careful when buying firewood from local suppliers after Christmas and late winter as this is often a time when suppliers have run out of season wood for burning, so quality is likely to be very poor.

How much does your wood weigh?

You should never buy wood by weight as the wetter it is, the more it weighs. We only sell by volume and you need to think in terms of a volume of energy. For example a cubic metre of kiln dried wood is likely to produce twice as much heat as poorly seasoned wood. In this instance the kiln dried wood would last you almost twice as long, therefore far better value for money.

How do I know how dry the wood is?

By far the best way is to use a moisture meter to measure the moisture content and this should be 15-25%. Although all our logs are dried to an average of 20% moisture content.

There should be visible cracks on the end of the wood and this will tell you how well the wood is dried.

If you bang a couple of logs together they will give a lovely hollow sound if they are really dry, otherwise it will be a dull thud!

Finally if you have an efficient stove, dry wood will burn cleanly. If not dry enough the glass will go black and there will be build up of soot and tar in the flue or chimney.

What sized logs can I buy?

Our standard size is 25cm (9.75 inches), but if you require bulk deliveries we can also do 35cm (13.75 inches) and 50cm (19.75 inches). We work to a tolerance of +/- 10% on these lengths.

What is the likely lead time for delivery?

We always carry stock, even during the busy winter, but delivery will always be made within about 4-7 working days from order. For local deliveries we work on about 2 weeks allowing us to make the most efficient use of our delivery vehicle and ensure we keep CO2 emissions to a minimum. Lead times may possibly lengthen when the weather gets very cold or at the busiest time of the year which is normally in the run up to Christmas.

How much firewood will I need for a typical winter?

A tricky question to answer as it will depend on so many factors:

The efficiency of your stove

The size of your property

How well insulated your property is.

How often you use the stove

How cold it is

How you use your stove – burning on full airflow all the time or on low heat.

However, this is a common question we get asked so to give you some idea. Assuming you are using the most efficient fuel – kiln dried, then in an average year you are likely to use 3-4 cubic metres of firewood. Remember that you will use significantly more wood if it is not dry because it provides far less heat energy – up to twice as much.